Israel Bardugo against the English informant: He stole the cover photo from my Facebook

May 10, 2015   

All rights reserved: Photographer Israel Bardugo, owner of the Israel on Air company, which operates worldwide, woke up this morning in a good mood, but he quickly discovered that someone had ruined his party.

Bardugo, an artist photographer, is best known for his famous aerial photographs. On Wednesday night, he filmed from a helicopter the ceremony to light the bonfire in honor of the Rashbi on the roof of Mount Zion in Meron. The spectacular image, which documented the tens of thousands of participants, appeared in all media outlets.

But today, Bardogo uploaded to his Facebook page the cover of the weekend newspaper "Hamodia" in English, published in New York, with the photo of Miron printed on the front page.

""You'll invest thousands of dollars in aerial photography, and then you'll discover that a newspaper is circulating in New York that stole the cover photo from your Facebook," wrote an angry Bardugo.

• Israel, what will you do?

""We are considering our steps - and there is no doubt that we need significant compensation here, in light of the numerous violations and the enormous damage caused to us by the Hamodia newspaper.".

• Isn't this the first time?

""The newspaper Hamodia uses my photos without permission. Just two months ago, the French-language newspaper used my photo on the cover of the newspaper, without permission.".

• Nerves, eh?

""Just today I am returning from court from a hearing on a major lawsuit I am handling for copyright infringement against the construction company 'Best.' Usually, I and my lawyers prefer to reach compromises on compensation regarding copyright claims, but in exceptional cases there is no choice but to go to court.".

In a lawsuit against the company 'Best', filed by attorneys Ariel Dinowetzky and Erez Abramowitz of the law firm of Dr. Avi Weinroth, Bardago is demanding compensation in the amount of 525,000 NIS. We tried to get a response from the informant in English, but without success. Even after contacting one of the newspaper's representatives, he did not respond.